The signal wire allows the display to shut down when the ignition is turned off, therefore eliminating any battery drain when the bike is not running.
It is basically like having a built-in relay circuit for the display to shut the unit down when the bike is turned off.
Yes, the drain will be minimal if you just wire it to stay on all the time, but it IS a nice feature to have added in.

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Signal wire (blue) is not a built in relay. In almost all applications, the power and the signal wire are connected as one.

I didn't realize how short the wires were going to be on the V/M.
Personally, it would be very nice if the unit could be supplied with 3-foot wires so that it could be connected to the battery terminals without having to splice extra wire in.

Every splice is another potential place for failure in the future...

How much extra would it cost to have the manufacturer add an extra 2-3 feet of wire to the units???
The incremental cost couldn't be all that much.

As it is, I will probably run the included wire into the headlight shell so that the splices are protected from the elements, and then run the connecting wires to the battery and a switched circuit from there.

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The VM was designed to be connected to the headlight wiring, no need to run separate power. If you want to measure the voltage at the battery, you can run a single wire for the signal. The length of the wire is clearly stated as being 1 ft long, use your favorite connector for additional wire length.

Installation is nothing to get excited about. Three wires: red (power), blue (signal), and black (neutral). I have a switched auxiliary fuse panel up front and this dropped right into place. I wired red and blue to a little 5A fused outlet and black to the ground bar. (There might be a situation where you would want to power the voltmeter from a different lead than the signal but I can't think of one at the moment.)

A little strip of 3M Dual Lock to hold it to the frame right under the handlebars...visible but out of sight at the same time and everything was done.

I metered it for the sake of knowing and it comes pretty darn close. No idea how it will hold up to the weather but with the pictures the unit in a glass of water I've got high hopes. I might suggest that you guys offer variable length leads for the folks that need something a little longer than 1'. I know you can extend it on your own but not having to do that would be worth a couple extra cents of wire. Looks like a well made product, thank you for the quick delivery.

Hi
Installed my ADvmonster Voltmeter last night. I used sturdy double stick tape and routed the lead to my switched accessory wires. I mounted the voltmeter behind the faring of my 990 Adventure. I thought this would offer more protection from the elements.

There was a question about readability in bright sunlight, so I rolled my bike out into the bright CA sun. These pictures were from 11:30am with the sun over head, taken with an iPhone4 (5MP).

Direct sun on display, I can't read it or tell its working. You can tell the surfaces are getting maximum sun. The Zumo display is readable.

Closer, perpendicular to the display, you can make out the tenths digit '5'.

Moving into the shade, all legible.

Direct sun, close up

What I think is happening is that light is entering the translucent case and reducing readability. A brighter display or different lens would probably help. I am working on a cover to prevent light entry and protect from over head sun.

EDIT - First cover

I made a cover out of part of a plastic box, painted it black, stuck it on.

It's about 12:30pm, sun is a bit higher, with the cover blocking most light into the case the digits are almost legible.

Close up. A bit more overhang on the cover and I'm almost there.

The meter will be usable but not while riding with direct sunlight on the face. This is a concern because when riding and something strange happens, I'd like to be able to look down and check all of my instruments. For $25 and fully waterproof, I'm going to work to make it better.

I think I mentioned the translucent case was a probable cause of too much light entering the case and making the digits hard to read. I think my photos show that by blocking the light into the case with the hood, the digits are more legible. Ask your CM, they can do a second step on the case and block out all but the face.

I thought about mounting the DVM lower but didn't want it hidden by the tank bag. I considered the are under the speedo but in a 990A that are is occupied by the movement of the top triple clamp.